Kidney-pancreas transplants provide "no improvement in overall quality of life" for diabetic patients compared to kidney transplants alone, according to Pennsylvania researchers.

Dr. Kalathil K. Sureshkumar of Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh reported in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases on a study which matched 27 simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplant recipients with 27 type 1 diabetics who only received a kidney transplant.

"Satisfaction with diabetes-related quality of life was significantly better in simultaneous pancreas-kidney recipients," the researchers reported.

They said only five of the kidney-pancreas recipients developed coronary artery disease compared to 13 of those who received only a kidney, and only five of the kidney-pancreas recipients developed peripheral vascular disease compared to 9 of those getting a kidney alone.

But they reported that in the first three months after transplantation, kidney-pancreas recipients had a significantly higher number of hospital admissions, spent more time in the hospital and more time in intensive care than kidney recipients alone.

"Although simultaneous pancreas kidney transplantation enhanced diabetes-related quality of life, there was no improvement in overall quality of life," the researchers concluded.

Other sources: American Journal of Kidney Diseases